Winter Garden Heritage Foundation

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Founded in 1994, the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation operates two museums in the National Register Historic District of Winter Garden. The Heritage Museum, in the 1918 Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Depot, provides a three-dimensional walk through Winter Garden’s glorious past and features a large collection of local citrus labels, a citrus packing house replica and an audio kiosk detailing the area’s citrus history, as well as Native American artifacts, and photographs and memorabilia of the area dating from the days of pioneer settlement to the present.

In addition, an exhibit on Lake Apopka details the history and on-going restoration of the former “large-mouth bass capital.” Just outside the museum stands a 1943 Cheshire caboose and a 1950s fire truck, as well as old tractors and equipment used in the local citrus industry.

The Central Florida Railroad Museum is located in the historic Tavares and Gulf Railroad depot built in 1913. The museum includes an extensive collections of local, state and national memorabilia and photographs of Central Florida’s railway history, including a large collection of dining car china and silverware, a 1938 Fairmont motor car, a velocipede hand car and the former Clinchfield Railroad caboose, #1073.